Deadly Surprises
by laugh4life
Summary: One-shot. Begins immediately after the episode 2X20. R&R!


**Hello to all you wonderful fanfictioners!**

**This is definitely a one-shot, but I really wanted to write it- the events that ended the episode The Last Day were biting away at me for quite some time! It takes up at the ending there, but since I haven't yet seen next week's episode - well, obviously not since its _next_ week's :P - I restructured it from there with my own dialogue and events.  
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**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Modern Day- Spring<strong>

"He killed her? Why? Why? I did everything he asked!" Elena cried in outrage, steady streams of tears falling down both cheeks as she stood amongst flaming sacks in the Canadian woods, which was where Klaus had wanted to hold the ritual.

Elena knelt on the rough dirt ground near the outer edge of the fiery circle, bent over a darkened and unmoving figure. The person's strawberry-blonde hair glowed in the red light of the heated flames that stood so close to them. Her face was pale as the mocking full moon above them. The air smelled of burnt pine needles and the smokey smell of a new fire, hinted with the undisguised scent of blood. The moon, lit like an eerie but circular candle in the sky, was floating through the black velvet night sky right above the site where they stood, casting a memorable and bizarre glow upon the forest around them.

Elena's heart raced as she took in what this disastrous event meant. Her beloved relative would no longer be with them for holidays, there would be no more of her famous cups of coffee like the one they had the first day of this crazy, mixed-up school year, there would no longer be a budding romance for her and Ric where there are finally no more secrets between the two- no, all of this would be gone since she is dead, positively passed away.

Devastated, Elena barely had time to contemplate the loss that had happened, and why, when, startling her to much degree, the figure jerked harshly upward into a sitting position rather than the lying down position that she had been in, her eyes flying open in confusion and shock. Her hair whipped around her as she turned her head side to side, surveying the sights and doubly noticeable smells. Her eyes were wide as a baby fawn's, alert as they swooped through the area, watching for anything threatening. Her muscles were visibly tensed up, ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of danger.

Although this had been something Elena had seen before, she couldn't help but being scared; her loving aunt looked like a caged wild animal, too riled up and unpredictable. Her mind raced with the knowledge of what happened in these last few seconds. Obviously, Jenna had come back to life, after being surely dead as a doornail. Elena's brown eyes widened in recognition of what had happened; Jenna was now a vampire. No, she wasn't a vampire quite yet, but surely would be one soon... If she got a hold of Elena's blood.

Without thinking, Elena backed up, her instincts guiding her away from this rampant creature and into the dark of the looming woods behind her. She knew the cover of the dark woods would be no help with disappearing; Stefan had pounded that into her mind, if not anything else about being a vampire. After all, Elena had been planning on, unfortunately, being turned tonight after a screwed-up Klaus, a 1000 year old vampire, drank her blood to the point of her death. Of course she would know that all of the senses are hightneded to a major point when a vampire. Everything is heightened, in fact, down to the ability to smell blood from nearly a half mile away.

Jenna. A vampire. Her loving, caring, sweet aunt a vampire? No, Elena's mind would not accept that.

Her face bearing the frightened and non-believing expression that was natural for such a shocking situation, Elena shook with rage. How dare Klaus do this! After all that has happened! She had agreed to go peacefully along with this disgusting sacrifice in hopes that _all_ of her loved ones would stay unharmed, but what did Klaus do? He gave Jenna his revolting blood, probably forcing it down her throat while she tried to scream in protest, and then _killed_ her, thus turning her into a creature of the night!

Greta, the witch who stood off to the side and a ways away from Elena, cocked her head in minor acknowledgment, a small and wry smile displayed upon her lips. "She is not dead. She's in transition."

Well, duh. Elena had figured that out on her own in those few pain-agonized everlasting seconds of misery and dread that she felt for her young aunt. Her eyes traveled to a bewildered Jenna, who was still gasping and blinking in dazed alarm.

Poor Jenna. A wave of emotions crossed Elena's mind, muddling her thoughts. Poor Jenna! She could barely cope with knowing that vampires actually exist, and now that she is, or most likely will be, one? Talk about a lot on someone's plate! And, oh my God, Alaric! What would he do now? His second loved one, a vampire? What a tragic happening!

"What- why is my throat so dry?" Jenna rasped, her astounded eyes turning to Elena as she reached one hand up to her throat, "Where am I?"

Not daring to answer, Elena turned to the witch outside of the menacing circle, "You- You bitch!" Elena spat, unforgiving rage visible in her soft eyes.

"Elena, now you don't want to do this..." Greta warned, reading her palms in front of her in case of needed witchery.

"You brought her here, didn't you? You lured her here! You- you- you... Rrrg!" Words didn't come, and so a spiteful Elena turned swiftly onto one heel, turning her back on the wicked witch who wants to kill her and obviously her aunt, too.

At this point, she just didn't care. All hope was gone. Jenna was a vampire, she was going to become one, Bonnie would likely die trying to stop Klaus- what was the point of living if none of your friends were with you?

Tears finally came to Elena's dry eyes and they flowed in great streams down her delicate cheeks as she knelt angrily down next to Jenna yet again, reaching for her hands.

"Jenna, Jenna. Hey- Jenna! Its me, its Elena!" She cried desperately, trying to get her aunt to look at her with actual sanity, rather than through this animal that seemed to be possessing her. Elena _would_ find a way to make her aunt better, to make her human again. She was sure of it, and so she kept on lightly shaking Jenna, trying to get her to listen.

It was worse, somehow, than when Vicki had become a vampire. Vicki hadn't looked at her this way at all - she hadn't looked_ through_ her- , even though inside she had likely been as lost as Jenna now was. Vicki had actually acted nearly normal when she had immediately turned, apart from all of the "I'm thirsty" whining that she did for quite a while. Jenna though... Jenna was acting crazed. She wasn't herself, at least, not as much as Vicki was. But look how that had turned out... Maybe there was some hope for Jenna left after all.

Jenna blinked, as if just realizing where she was, "E-Elena?"

Elena's face lit up, her eyes still glistened with tears, "Yes, yes, Jenna! Its me! Oh, Jenna!" She scooted closer to Jenna across the debris-strewn ground, likely streaking her favorite pair of jeans with dirt that probably wouldn't come out in a million years, but it wasn't like she cared. No, she didn't give one wit about those one-hundred dollar pair jeans. Jenna had come back to her, and that was all that mattered.

All of a sudden the mini bonfires surrounding the two flare up, their flames eating away at some of the branches above them, shooting sparks up into the night sky like fireflies. The weight of what will happen that night falls back around Elena and she can feel the burden pressing at her.

Questions gnaw at her mind, enough to make her restless again.

"Greta? Why, though?" Elena said, looking back up at the powerful witch. Surely she would tell Elena what she wishes to know.

The way that Elena asked the question had been intended. Even though at this point when it would probably be good to tell Jenna that she was going to die for some creepy sacrifice ritual that is held to make a wolf-pire sort of creature ever-powerful, Elena didn't want to worry her aunt if it wasn't necessary. They were all going to die, anyway, so what would be the point?

Wait, correction. Everyone but Elena is going to die. The thought nearly made her burst into a fresh round of tears.

Poor Jenna. Poor Caroline, Tyler, Bonnie, Jeremy, Alaric, Stefan, Damon... All of them would be effected by this disastrous event that Elena's life had brought on to them.

Kind, sweet Jenna is a vampire, and who knows what Klaus will do with her! Alaric is probably going to mourn for her for eternity, and it is all Elena's fault! If only she'd told Jenna about all of this sooner...

Caroline would be heartbroken if both Bonnie and Elena die - she doesn't yet know about the blood that Damon all so willingly fed Elena - and what would she do then? And speaking of Caroline, Elena hadn't seen her since yesterday morning... where could she be?

Tyler, the big bad wolf, is off with some malicious werewolf wandering the plains in search of something, unless he'd come back to Mystic Falls, which Elena doubted.

Little Jeremy... Poor Jer. His parents dead, his aunt a vampire and going to die, his sister is going to transition to a vampire tonight... what will he do?How will he cope? Surely he won't turn to drugs again, will he? Hope not.

And Stefan. And Damon.

Her sweethearts. Her loved ones. Kind Stefan with a soul like an angels, who fights to stay strong every day. Misshapen Damon, who just needs a bit of work but has so much potential. What terrible and heart-breaking lives they've had. Two small tears run down Elena's drying cheeks as two last symbols to remember the boys who messed up, but also fixed up, her world. Despite all of the confusion and mystery, the pain and suffering, the anger and loss that they'd brought her, they'd also brought hope. And they'd brought happiness in her time of mourning the loss of her beloved parents. And they'd brought love into it, too. Definitely love.

It really did feel like a goodbye now. When she'd told Stefan to close his eyes so that he wouldn't see her leave him, it'd felt like a quick "see you later." But now- now it felt real. It felt permanent. There is no going back to how things used to be. There will be no more three-way phone calls between Bonnie, Caroline and herself. There would be no more arguments between Jenna and Elena, nor any fights about lying between Jenna and Ric. No more brother-sister snark remarks passed between her and Jeremy. It would all go away.

Greta interrupts Elena's deep thoughts, "You know why. He needed a vampire to preform the ritual. He wasn't taking any chances; he knew that your brothers would come to your rescue, although it was just a 50-50 guess on who. One of them would free the obvious vampire, and then what would we do? We needed a vampire, Elena. She's as good as any, don't you think?" She smirks.

Mind blank with emotionless thoughts, Elena stares through the trees, watching as the wide strip of the night sky that she could see grows even darker. Stars twinkle ironically in the sky, as if telling her that all would be okay. But it wouldn't. It wouldn't be okay, because if Elena was correct and Jenna was just the backup vampire - thank God for that - than Caroline and Tyler would die tonight. Heck, Elena would die tonight no matter what!

Somehow, no matter the lengths that Elena goes to try to make sure that all of the people she cares about are fine, more than one person that she loves ends up dead.

But then again, if Elena was right about Jenna being just a backup vampire, that means that she could save Jenna's life right now! One less person to worry about!

"Jenna, listen to me," Elena's worried brown eyes catch Jenna's wild green ones, "Listen to me, Jenna! Tell me, where is Jeremy?"

"Um, at home?" Jenna replies, blinking rapidly in confusion, "But why do you want to know that? And why shout?"

"Oh," Elena lowers her voice to a whisper, "Oh. Is that better? Sorry Jenna but we don't have much time. I just wanted to know that Jeremy was safe, in answer to your question. Now you've got to listen to me carefully. Klaus, who I really can't explain right now, is a vampire. He is trying to break a curse by draining my blood and others', too. In order to break the curse, he needed not just a doppelganger - which is my part in this - but also a vampire and some other creatures. Just know that he needed a backup of each. That's what Greta was telling me before. You're his backup, understand? You're his backup!" At this point Elena is hysterical with sadness, her voice cracking with concern and misery at some points, and her eyes have been cried out to the point of possible dehydration.

"I- Oh." Her eyes divert from Elena's, focusing on a speck of dirt, from what Elena can see but soon rise back up to Elena's face, determined, "What do I do?"

She only need say one word, but she responds with a few quick sentences, "Escape. And don't worry about me. I'll see you again."

"Yeah, in Heaven." Jenna snorts, trying to lighten up the serious mood, although she, of all people, should know just how serious this is- she is a _vampire_, now, isn't she?

"Maybe, maybe not. You need to run when you have the chance, understood?"

But it is too late for Jenna to even answer. They've come, and if Elena knew anything, Klaus wasn't going to let Jenna stay alive now, even if she wasn't needed for the ritual. No, that'd be considered too easy for him. What she needed was a miracle, but it didn't look like that was coming any time soon. Or was it?

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><p><em><strong>Modern Day (2011) in Mystic Falls, Virginia - Spring<strong>_

**Elena's POV**

Two minutes before midnight, I sat in the middle of a ring of deadly fire, mourning for the poor souls who will be affected by this journey to my death, and those who already have been affected.

Gloomily, I rocked on my heels as I thought about how all the well-thought-out plans my friends and I had planned out had backfired so wildly on us all; Jenna had just witnessed a tragic death of an innocent; something that I had seen enough of to understand, and so I didn't turn my head in disgust when Jenna did at the sight of Klaus greedily ripping - literally - the female werewolf's heart out.

Jules had been a wonderful werewolf in the end; much different than I suppose I had made her out to be. My unfair past judgment had most likely tainted my thoughts of what soul may have been in the body of that woman, the werewolf. Instead of a self-serving soul like I had made her out to be, Jules had been a kind person in her own way. It was too late for me to say "I'm sorry" by the time Jules had died the malicious death that she had not deserved.

Tears pricked at my eyes as I remembered what Jules had told her that last minute of her life:  
><em>"Everything I did... I was just trying to help Tyler."<em> Jules had grunted as she clutched her sides as if they were falling apart.  
>At the mention of Tyler's name, I had looked up in recognition, <em>"Are you Jules?"<em>  
><em>"I didn't want him to be alone."<em> were Jules' last words as she looked truthfully into my eyes with hurt and confusion about what part she had in this otherworldly sacrifice as she planned her escape, though it would never come.

Feeling a penetrating gaze looking over her, I glanced upward with a deep feeling of dread sitting heavy on my chest as I anticipated Klaus to be glowering down upon me. Instead, my eyes met Jenna's regretful ones over the roaring blaze that separated the two of us, leaving us both with an even more helpless feeling.

"The day that the lawyers called to tell me that I was going to become your guardian, you know what my first thought was?" Jenna mused.

Brown hair lightly blowing out of control in the slight breeze, I quietly shook my head once with honest wonder as I quickly met Jenna's informing and sad mien.

Young Aunt Jenna gave a short and disproving laugh that is meant for no one while looking at the ground with an expression of guilt and dread plainly seen on her face before saying, "Isn't there someone else who can do this? That's what I thought, Elena! It's dreadful, isn't it?"

"Jenna, there was no one else who could have gotten me and Jeremy through all that." I urgently told her, internally begging Jenna to understand that no matter what, I was thankful for Jenna's support and that Jenna was a wonderful companion and guardian throughout those tough few months.

"Just the thought that I almost passed up taking care of you-" A grimace appears on Jenna's face as she recalls the tough and life-changing decision.

"But you didn't!" I interrupted her, "You put your entire life on hold to help us!" I knelt down as close to Jenna as I could, knowing that we both needed comforting right then as they went through this highly emotional night.

Staring at me as if I were beyond crazy, Jenna said in defeat, "Look around, Elena! I failed you."

"No, you didn't. I failed you. I'm so sorry." I could feel my expression twist from one of sorrow and loss and sadness into one of seriousness as I repeated one last time something of major importance to Jenna, "Listen. Being a vampire intensifies your guilt. But it also makes you stronger and faster. You can fight back. I'm gonna get through this- I'll be okay, and you need to believe promise me- when you get the chance-" showing Jenna that she needs to be quiet about this idea, I urgently told Jenna, "run."

Although I had told her only minutes before, Jenna was still startled at the thought of outrunning a vampire of 1000 years. Was it even possible? I'm sure she had to wonder, but her gut instinct probably led Jenna to the negative conclusion that she wasn't going to live this night. But she would probably try- for me. For Jeremy and Alaric, her new-found love, she would attempt to live through this nightmare-come-true. She most likely had high hopes as she looked determinedly up into the unforgiving face of the one and only Klaus.

He smirked at the sight of her shying back from his gaze, "Hello Jenna."

Our eyes threatening to burst into unwanted tears, both Jenna and I rose grimly from our sitting positions in the cold, hard-packed dirt of the 10 foot diameter circles that we were captive in. Both of our thoughts seemingly are remorseful as we think of what we each could have done differently to have kept this event from occurring, to have kept the other safely out of Klaus's reach, out of the world of supernatural. But at the same time, we each have the notion in our minds that we aren't going to live through this, but that the other will in one of our places. While I'd been sure that my face was grim and filled with a burning unforgettable hatred, Jenna's was filled with fear and determination.

Even knowing that it will likely do no good, I tried to reason with him, "Let her go. I understand that I have to die, but she doesn't!" My voice cracks peculiarly on _die_, and I reached out toward Jenna once again, forgetting completely about the invisible force field that oh-so-loyal Greta had set up as an extra precaution, as if the ring of fire weren't enough.

"Careful!" Klaus tsked with mocking disapproval at my sudden clumsiness. He didn't wait 1000 years to have his rare doppelganger fried to death by a fire of his idea!

At the same time, Jenna shouts, "Elena, don't!" with such force that I stumbled over the change in my guardian's mood.

"No, Jenna, we can't leave Jeremy without a family!" I turned my attention back to Klaus as I began to beg him to understand and listen to my side of the situation, "I followed your rules- I did everything that you asked! I didn't run! Please. " Heartbroken tears finally fall again from my fawn eyes as they widen in innocent pleading. For all it was worth, I could have been begging with the devil- Klaus wouldn't change his answer even if he were impossibly given a high desire of his.

Things majorly changed direction when Klaus turned behind him and looked up the stone cliff of which they were backed up against. I could just make out a shadowy and pale figure as Klaus said, "Well, well. I don't recall you being on the guest list."

The figure up on the cliff towering over our little gathering; Stefan.

An impassive expression occupying his features, he coolly said, "I'm here to talk."

"Very well, then."

In a flash, Klaus was gone from this depressing ground and he stood atop the grand cliff a few good feet away from Stefan, my Stefan.

My Stefan. What had he come here to talk about? It was final, my death, we all knew that. Even Damon had known that when he - obviously with good intentions - had forced that blood into my system... I shuddered despite the heat from the sea of flames around me.

But seriously. Stefan had to know that there was nothing he could do for me; we'd already discussed it as a group- me, him, Bonnie, Damon, Elijah, Alaric, Jeremy... John. We'd said that I was as good as dead already, and that this was the only possible way to kill Klaus. We know that I have to die, and I'd thought that we'd all accepted that. I may have been wrong.

I look up now toward the outline of the cliff in the night sky. Though it was dim, I could barely make out the silhouettes of both Klaus and Stefan from the eerie glow of light of the moon.

A rush of panic shot through me as realization hit; at that distance, there was no way that my weak ears would be able to hear that conversation. But then again, maybe those were Stefan's intentions as he lured Klaus up onto the far-away hill to speak a reasonable distance away.

Seemingly in sync with my thoughts, Jenna's voice chimed through, "What's going on?"

"I- I don't know." I stuttered, confusion seeping into the fake expression that I wore just a moment or two ago for Jenna's sake.

All of a sudden, something clicked in my mind, something that was very important. I slowly turned around, deep in speculation, with a partially ecstatic, partially knowing expression, "You can hear anything. Just focus on them!"

It was so stupid; I should have been able to remember it earlier; whenever there had been an urgent situation and I was with any vampire - Stefan, Damon, Caroline or the likes - they would always shush my constant chattering in attempt to use their unnatural, but quite useful, listening skills.

Pulling her hair behind one ear, Jenna appeared to be listening intently from the looks of it as I waited eagerly, and anxiously, for the information.

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><p><strong>Stefan's POV<strong>

Mind racing, I contemplate the situation that rests at my hands. How do I get Klaus to swap me for Jenna in the ritual? Surely it won't be easy to convince him; he's nearly 800 years older than I, and so I'm assuming that he's a tough person, or vampire, to trick or persuade. After all, in 800 years, he's sure to have picked up a few things.

The reason that I stood where I literally stood at that moment - on the rocky ledge overlooking Klaus's little ritual - was because of many reasons. One being Damon, two being John, and three being Jenna.

Damon was a reason because as soon as he had called me about both Jenna's situation and the werewolf bite that Tyler Lockwood gave him - did I mention that it is poisonous? - I knew I had to do something. And something I did. I couldn't just stand around and let both my brother and my girlfriend's aunt die - no, it'd be too many stressful events for her to deal with. Even though Damon's death may be inevitable, Jenna's could still be cheated. If, however, someone stands in her place. A vampire for a vampire. That is where I come in.

Elena may not like it, but I know that Damon would have done this also, if he were able. He would have offered to take Jenna's place if Klaus hadn't deemed him as useless in the ritual like he had. Klaus had seen his bite, and now he wouldn't accept Damon's dying body as a replacement for Jenna's living one. If Klaus had accepted, though, Damon would not have hesitated in the least, and so neither would I. Either one of us would do anything for Elena, and although I'm sure that she doesn't know it, me taking Jenna's place in the ritual will make her very glad in the long run. But only if it works. Only if I don't actually die, just like Elena won't completely die.

In the very short version: I will not die no matter what happens. No, I won't die even if Klaus completely drains me of my life source. The reason is that John will die instead of me. After a somewhat tense talk, John and I decided that if someone has to die for the ritual it would be best if it were him.

Deadly surprises await.

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><p><strong>This is all that I've written about for this story. Sometime in the future I may come back to itedit. I hope you enjoyed what you read.**

**Review please? :)**

**P.S. there is a sequel story that I've written to this - its called "Twisted Surprises". Takes place near finale. Try it if you want to read something like this! thanks.  
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